High contents of curcusones A and B and trace amounts of spirocurcasone exist in the roots of Jatropha curcas. Here, a one-step semisynthesis method of spirocurcasone and pyracurcasone was built, not only resulted an increased yield of spirocurcasone but also produced pyracurcasone, which exhibited greater cytotoxicity compared to curcusones A and B. The plausible mechanism of the formation of pyracurcasone was proposed, and the proposed biogenetic origin for spirocurcasone by Taglialatela-Scafati was confirmed.

Li,Xu-Yang;Yang,Yuan-Feng;Peng,Xing-Rong;Li,Ming-Ming;Li,Liang-Qun;Deng,Xu;Qin,Hong-Bo;Liu,Jie-Qing;Qiu,Ming-Hua.One-Step Semisynthesis Method of Spirocurcasone and Pyracurcasone from Curcusones A and B,ORGANIC LETTERS,2014,16(8):2196-2199